Workforce safety and training were the subject of GWO's Wind Workforce Masterclass in Busan, South Korea, where over 100 delegates witnessed strong support for international standards.
With rapid development expected in South Korea's offshore wind sector, business leaders encouraged their peers to create partnerships, learn from and leverage global expertise at a unique event last week.
The Wind Workforce Masterclass, hosted by Global Wind Organisation in association with the Royal Danish Embassy in Korea and KRISO, brought together delegates from across the wind energy supply chain in one of Asia Pacific's fastest growing offshore wind markets. Guests heard presentations from a trio of GWO training companies, event partners KRISO (Korean Research Institute for Ships and Ocean Engineering), GWO member company Copenhagen Offshore Partners and several others. Each provided a unique perspective as to how and why global standards such as GWO will play a crucial role in developing a stable workforce for Korean offshore wind during the coming years.
Jonathan Spink, Haewoori Offshore Wind CEO and Vice President at Copenhagen Offshore Partners, stressed the significance of workplace safety, highlighting the need to align with global safety standards. "Learn fast from global expertise," he said. "You must leverage the global supply chain and share best practice. This is crucial for implementing best practices and ensuring a safe and effective approach in Korea."
Several potential GWO training providers from across Korea were in attendance, with many seemingly intent to heed Jonathan's advice.
Ralph Savage, Director of Global Development and Stakeholder Relations at GWO, explained: "Our intention was to bring together our network and facilitate new partnerships between existing GWO training providers and several organisations who are keen to add our standards to their curriculum in Korea.
"The presence of three companies who are experienced in the GWO system, training standards, instructor development and governance was extremely valuable for potential providers, who had the opportunity to ask questions about what a good GWO training provider actually does."
One such organisation was the event's co-sponsor and organiser KRISO, which has itself become certified to deliver GWO Training. SeongJong Han, Director and Principal Engineer at KRISO's Offshore Industries R&BD Center gave a comprehensive presentation about how this operation, which is owned by Korea's Ministry of Oceans & Fisheries, will play a role in defining local standards while also providing globally recognised training.
Following the conference programme, delegates were shown round the state of the art training centre at the Korea Institute of Maritime and Fisheries Technology.
Jakob Lau Holst, CEO of Global Wind Organisation, added: "I would like to thank KIMFT Team Leader Professor Lee, Jinwoo for his hospitality. KIMFT opened their doors to other GWO training providers and several companies considering making an investment in delivering our standards, which is so important when very few centres are the same. As such, this state of the art facility gave our guests a glimpse of what a high quality operation can look like."
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